


Redemption By Earth

by Mystic_Scripture



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Multi, Skai Kru, damaged soul becomes leader, older 100 prisoner
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:55:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29187426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystic_Scripture/pseuds/Mystic_Scripture
Summary: Andy was a pain in the ass who had a penchant for getting herself caught up in various pranks and shenanigans throughout the Ark. She also was known as her dad's perfect student and learned everything she could about surviving anything. Wanting to follow in her dad's footsteps, she works towards becoming a member of the guard, and even makes it to some of the final steps towards getting the training. Then she is arrested after she is drugged and framed for the murders of two other members of the guard. Her mother doctors adjusted her documents and bought her more time. Granted, she was stuck in solitary, but she was still alive, and then she is put on the ground with 99 other teenagers and a stowaway adult. All the training her dad gave her, and now it would all be put to the test.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

Prologue:  
October 15, 2044

It’s been 94 years since anyone had been on Earth. No one to feel the warmth of the sun, no one to take in the fresh air given to them by trees. The sun was close enough, close enough for solar flares to fill a dark tunnel, but light doesn’t show the warmth of a spring day told in books. This was enough for what was left of the human race. It was the fauna that had been abandoned to marinate in radiation from a nuclear apocalypse, the only ‘real’ tree preserved a glorified bonsai. The once beautiful planet had been left behind for people to look at what was left from out of the atmosphere. 

Twelve nations managed to send up stations; Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, India, Japan, Russia, Uganda, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela. Years later, they joined together to form the Ark, slowly orbiting around the radiation soaked planet as humanity helplessly watched. Most scientists said that it would be another hundred years or so before they would be able to return to Earth, but for now, the ground was still unsurvivable. The ground was just a pipe dream for those that lived and were born in the Ark. The reality was that they all lived in a space station without the adequate resources to accommodate the people that live on it. And for the people that affected most, this reality is a fickle and detrimental thing.

Reality was a cold, steel, cell of a home with solar flares passing by daily, requiring frequent identification checks. It was a steadfast judicial system that made any crime held by someone over the age of eighteen deemed capital and ending in a death sentence. It was a place where children were locked up for the remainder of their youth only to be floated at their ‘retrial’. It was a place where the guard stayed in power and others were powerless to do anything outside of the mundane routines set in place. Adolescents weren’t allowed to push their luck for fear of being caught, and they were alone in places where both parents worked. For in this reality, siblings were prohibited and anything that was considered a ‘waste’ of limited resources was a crime. Nothing could fall off the blade of the knife that was the laws of the council and Chancellor. Not even a hovering toe could be caught by the authorities or it was adios life and hello open space or imprisonment. No, reality was a cold hard slap in the face to remind all who lived of the price they pay daily to survive. 

At least, that is how one particular teen felt about life on the Ark long before she had found herself in her current predicament. If anything, this just sealed the deal. Calling herself a teen was a technicality even, given that she had turned eighteen a few days prior. She was always a bit of a miscreant, but today was supposed to have changed all of that. She was going to be so much more than the daughter of a records keeper and a history professor. She would show the other inhabitants of the ark that it took more than being born into an area to be worthy of compliment or attention. Just because she lived in the factory station and enjoyed a good laugh every now and again didn’t mean she wasn’t important. No, she was going to prove her worth and undo the tomfoolery of the past. Hell, she was about to be one of the youngest members of the guard to enter training and subsequently join the ranks. 

Or, so the girl had thought before she found herself running through the space station to get somewhere that she could at least pretend was safe. 

Though, again, the word choice is a technicality, given that her movements were stumbling in nature for running to be used accurately. The intent for running, and even though she had adrenaline to help her, whatever drugs that had been administered to the girl still had their toll on her system. Everything around her moved in waves, the whole station feeling like it was moving in a way that was way too obvious to be considered normal. Her olive tone had gone pale and clammy with the effects of whatever she was given, but with her erratically wandering eyes and frantic attempts to move away from the guard members after her, the people she moved through didn’t really notice that. Her breaths were curt and frequent, coming out in rasping gasps from her dry mouth as she pushed herself as far as her heavy limbs could take her. With her heart slamming like it was trying to break free of its cage of bone and tissue, and her boots clunking heavily against the metal floor, any sound around her was dampened. Nothing outside of herself was noticed unless it was a wall that she could use for support.

There was no way that this could actually happen, that they believed she had done what they were saying. She had been set-up, duped, and plotted against. She couldn’t even fathom why someone would think she was possible of such a thing. She was skilled, yes, and, as previously stated, a bit of a hoodlum, but something of this magnitude? She wasn’t even capable of the intention of such things. She couldn’t even bring herself to remember how she did it. Had she done it? The girl pinched the muscles in her face as she brushed away at the hair that was sticking to the tacky sweat upon her face and tried to recollect the events as they unfolded. Her head was pounding and it took all she had in her not to throw up. So she was drugged, and she was concussed somehow: that was just fan-fucking-tastic. The irony of the situation altogether wasn’t lost on her, but she was in too much pain and panic to be amused by it because, of course, it figures that the minute she tried to do good, karma decided to have different ideas. 

Pumping her legs further, she shoved and pushed herself towards the factory station, towards home. Her parents were both at work, but maybe she could find Naomi and Zandar. Where one was, the other wouldn’t be far behind and with her partners in delinquency, maybe she’d be able to find a way to hide away until she could figure out a way to get out of this mess.The teen paused to catch her breath, her heart racing and her limbs heavy. Putting up as much an effort as possible to keep herself alert, she moved around the station, avoiding anyone who got in her way, or that looked like they would be aware of what she did. Granted, the blood was caked onto her skin up to her elbows, making her literally red-handed, so she rose a lot of suspicion. As it is, she was starting to lose whatever strength she had left, her energy dwindling with each step. With these factors and the drugs growing ever stronger against her, it was only a matter of time before she got caught.   
This was happening… She was eighteen years old less than a week and she was going to get floated for a crime she couldn’t even remember committing.   
Her footing slipped, and she stumbled down to the ground in her housing hall with a crash. Her arms pushed weakly at the floor in an effort to push herself up into a crouching position, her chest heaving as the girl attempted to find air for her spastic lungs. Her head and heart were pounding in a pair of erratic and unmatched tempos, causing her to close her eyes and try to push down the contents of her stomach. With the sound of boots coming from behind her, she realized she had fallen short a mere few yards, her gathering neighbors marking her vicinity to her snowball’s chance of freedom. Her whole body shaking, she turned herself to be propped by her elbows to look fearfully at the guard members looking down at her. Leading them, was one of the supposed up and comers, Shumway, his dark eyes glinting dangerously down at her with a deep frown stretching along the lower regions of his face. He looked to either side of him, and quickly jutted his chin towards the girl, signalling for his compatriots to pick her up and face him. As they did so, she found herself hanging from her forearms, her entire body limp with the last strands of energy left her and the drugs and head injury took over.   
"Andrea Wilson, you are being sentenced for the murder of superior guardsmen Alex Thomson, and Commander Damon Cross a crime that upon reaching the age of eighteen will be a capital crime resulting in death. In the time until then, you are to be sent…”   
The rest of the words drifted past her as her body let out a final shudder before letting the concussion get to her. He lurched forward, her stomach upending itself onto the floor with a sickening smack before she fell into a darkened state of unconsciousness.  
☢☣☢☣☢☣☢☣☢☣☢☣☢☣☢  
When she woke up, the first thing that Andrea felt was pain blossoming around the back of her head in waves, each more blinding than the rest. The second thing she felt was bile rising up her throat and surging past her lips, causing her to lean over the edge of the bed she’d been placed on. As it burned through the tissue if her esophagus, she thanked whatever lucky stars she had left that whoever placed her wherever she was had laid her down in the recovery position. Coughing a couple of times, Andrea wiped what had stayed to gather around her mouth with the sleeve if her jacket and finally took in her surroundings. Though it might be as temporary as the time to realize she was awake, she couldn’t help the curiosity that burned through her in a similar fashion as her first waking activity had.   
Her gaze opened to a medium-sized rectangle that was whitewashed everywhere save for the blood-red blanket under her on the bed. The walls had curved square recesses in them, the only windows in one of these and at the door at the far end of the room. She tried to stand up to see through the door, but ended up doubled over with her head clenched in her hands as it hung between her knees. She had never seen this kind of area before. Was she in a lab? Some secret medical room to be inspected? Maybe there was some sort of justice outside of floating and she was in a waiting room of sorts. As her stomach churned, and she sweated out the last of her drowsy state, she mentally shook her head.   
No...she knew where she was, it just didn’t make any sense. She was already 18, she’ll be floated for sure, they were just waiting for her to wake up. All that was left was to get picked up, and say goodbye to her parents before being allowed into the oblivion of open space. She sighed, rubbing her face before holding her head again. At least the headache would go away soon and she’d be known for something other than an identification. She would be infamous, but it was better than nameless.   
The sound of the door opening caused Andrea to look upward, hiding the wince that wanted to etch into her face at the movement. All her bravery was lost however, when she saw who had made the action. Her mother stood there, a small box in her hands. Her mother had always been a quiet and thoughtful woman, her job at records serving her skills and personality well. The woman that Andrea saw now though, was a woman who was fearful and defeated. She shuffled over to her daughter with quick, urgent steps, and tucked the box under the bed before pulling the young adult into her arms. She got a stiffening figure in response, the sudden show of affection jarring at the injury sustained prior to arrest. It didn’t matter to her though, she pulled away from her daughter, her voice shaking and coarse.   
“Oh my dear girl…” She sighed, stroking at her daughter’s hair gently, trying to get her to look up at her. “You will need what I have brought you to survive the next three years until they think you are 18, this room will now be your home… please see that this is all I could do for you.”   
Andrea's head snapped up, ignoring the pain that lanced around her neck, her green eyes widening in shock. Lockup? Three years until she turned 18? How was any of that possible? She looked at her mother, and realized why almost instantly. Of course, her mother worked for records and bookkeeping. All she had to do was say that the needed to look up something for her daughter and she could get in and edit everything that had been processed with her name on it. Birth certificate, ID cards through the years, juvenile warning slips report cards….all but the guard application that Andie had filled out herself and turned in only a few hours ago. As far as the papers were concerned everywhere else on the arch she was only fifteen trying to pose as an eighteen year old in order to get a job earlier than she needed it. She pulled away from her mother, wiping a hand over her mouth as she shook her head, unable to process what her mother was thinking.   
“They’ll float you for this, Ma…” She murmured, her arms resting protectively around herself. “Maybe even Pops too.”   
“You don’t worry about me or your father.” Charlotte Wilson smiled tightly, shaking her head. “Anthony is fine...he is just turning in his badge and accepting his now post. He was getting tired of working for the guard anyway, but too young to retire this was-”   
“Enough!” Andrea yelled, putting a pause to her mother’s words and jarring at her head. “Don’t make this seem so trivial like I am being dropped off somewhere and you’ll be able to see me after this. I’m will get floated when the time comes, and if you keep trying to make this ‘better’? I’ll have one less parent to say goodbye to and he’ll probably be too disgraced to even show.”   
She moved to the bed, rubbing at her arms as she sat down. Her mother stood stock still, not sure how to react to the outburst when she could tell how much her daughter was hurting. Andrea gulped looking down as she picked at her fingers. How could she explain to her mother what she had seen? What she had supposedly done? There were bound to be rumours running rampant about the station already. She didn’t even know how long she had been passed out for, or even why they were allowing her mother to see her right now. Maybe to see if they would say something incriminating. She took a breath through her nose, exhaling from her mouth before slowly reaching her mother’s gaze.   
“You didn’t see what happened down there, Ma....it was...they looked like…” She shook her head, unable to go on like she’d surmised, but hoped to have been wrong about. “I don’t even know what to say to you right now.”   
With the whispered confession, her mother’s hands were once again on her face, making her look forward at the kneeling woman. There was a hidden understanding in her eyes, as if she knew that what they were saying out there was wrong. As if no matter how much rebellion struck her daughter, Charlotte knew that this wasn’t part of it and that there were other parties at play, but that she just couldn’t prove it. Neither of them spoke for a while, the girl unsure of what to say to prove her innocence to the woman that raised her. After a few minutes, Andrea felt tears well up in her eyes as she fell onto her mother’s shoulder, whispering apologies and attempts to fix things.  
"It's not what it looks like I swear...I didn't-I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I was drugged, then concussed, I can’t even remember most of the things that led to that. I was holding the knife one second and the next I was covered in their….” she paused as the truth bubbled forth unwillingly, the girl not wanting to endanger her parents, but also wanted her side to be heard. "I- I was so scared I ran...or stumbled, I wasn’t even in control of my body when I tried to get home, but their blood….their lives are on my hands whether I did it or not...I could have done something Ma….but I could only run away from them...those mutilated corpses of two perfectly innocent men."  
She gulped, as he mom listened, wiping at her face, "I know I've given you no reason to believe me with the things I've done before, but I swear! I didn't do this! Please....please say you believe me."  
The warm hands stopped their soothing motions and forced her to look her mother in the eyes. “Of course I believe you, Buttercup! Why else would I give you three more years of life? I was going to try for 5, but you don’t really look like thirteen anymore...fifteen was the best I could doctor it to. It may not have freed you, but saved you..for now."  
Andrea nodded, looking around her room, "Right...saved...I replaced being floated immediately for three years of maddening solitude...with no company save for guardsmen who would rather see me dead."  
"They were going to take everything you had away...including your life…” Charlotte shook her head, trying to get her daughter to understand, “I couldn't let them do that.”   
“I know...and you risked a lot doing what you did...it’s just…” Andrea sighed, putting her hand over her mother’s, biting her bottom lip. "I love you."  
"We love you too...and don’t you say that I used the wrong pronoun. Your father does love you, Drea...he just needs time." Her mother said, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead before all hell broke loose.  
Guards burst into the room, pulling Andrea’s mother away from her forcefully, while one of them read from a ledger. "Charlotte Wilson, you are charged with the doctrination of records and the attempt to forge data on the accused Andrea Wilson. The sentence for this crime, being that you are over eighteen and all crimes are therefore considered capital crimes, is death."  
"NOOOOO!" Andie cried out clawing at the guard that had unknowingly held her back, "NO she was just trying to protect me! Take me instead if you know she doctored the information, then take me!”   
“No baby,” Charlotte said, allowing herself to be pulled away, they can’t prove it outside of the one document, so they can’t take you...but with it being suspected of me and with my age… I knew this was happening, Drea...I just wanted to say goodbye.”   
As her mother was pulled out of the room, Andrea was held down still as none other than the man who put her there came in through the doors. Panic lumped in her throat as she heard the sounds of her mother being dragged away. The guard holding her down backed away as the other man approached, kicking her to the side as she struggled to get up. Grabbing onto her hair and pulling at where she presumed was the source of her concussion, he pulled her face up to meet his.  
"This is your doing, girl." He spat, shoving her back onto the bed before crouching in front of her again. "You thought that changing your age was going to save you? That telling Mommy the truth would save you? Huh?"   
He gave her another kick, sending her back to the floor and winding her. Trying to gain her breath, she cried out as he grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her face close to his. The room was spinning again and it was all she had not to vomit in his face. As much as she would relish in that moment, she knew it would only make things worse.   
"And if you try to pull a stunt like that again. I will find a way to prove those apparently doctored records of yours and get you floated: or worse, Guard Killer."  
And as Shumway tossed her back to the ground, Andrea Wilson's heart turned into a molten Iron, waiting to be forged.  
☢☣☢☣☢☣☢☣☢☣☢☣☢☣☢  
Year 1 of Imprisonment Summary:  
Murders attempted by guards: 10  
Self-Defense Kills: 6  
Murders attempted by convicted children of guards: 2  
Self-Defense hospitalizations: 2  
Attempted Rapes: 8  
Successful Rapes: 4  
Reported Rapes: 0  
Weeks without proper food due to ‘conserving supplies’: 12  
Skills Acquired: 4   
Allies: 0  
Attitude: Bleak and Shaken  
Year 2 of Imprisonment Summary:  
Murders attempted by guards: 5  
Self-Defense Kills: 2  
Murders attempted by convicted children of guards: 1  
Self-Defense hospitalizations: 0  
Attempted Rapes: 1  
Successful Rapes: 0  
Reported Attempts: 0  
Weeks without proper food due to ‘conserving supplies’: 24  
Skills Acquired: 15  
Allies: 1- Guard member Daniel Martin  
Attitude: Vengeful and Antagonistic  
Year 3 of Imprisonment Summary  
Murders attempted by guards: 10  
Self-Defense Kills: 10  
Murders attempted by convicted children of guards: 0  
Self-Defense hospitalizations: 0  
Attempted Rapes: 0  
Successful Rapes: 0  
Skills Acquired: 20  
Weeks without proper food due to ‘conserving supplies’: 36  
Allies: none- Daniel Martin was floated in December  
Hope for a better tomorrow: Apathetic, abrasive, and confrontational  
Notes:   
Moved to a higher security cell  
No Visitors- Guards only  
Shocker Jewelry in place to keep prisoner in check  
Time of Termination: VOIDED will be put into the 100 program.


	2. Reintegration

A flick of the wrist catapulted the small rubber ball, bouncing it into the ceiling and back into the nimble hand of the bored young women in her bed. Time had started to move slower again; especially in the last year, today marking about five months since her return to solitude. Unbidden, the image of an easy smile and kind eyes caused her eyes to brim slightly, blinking the loss away with a bit of her lip. It was sentiment like that that got them caught, that got the owner of those features killed. And her mother, possibly her father, she’ll never know. There was no time to wallow in it. Besides, it would be over soon, or so she had taken to reminding herself. In just two more months, a sentence three years in the making will end, and with her record, she was bound to be floated. An end to the apathy and an end to her short and mischief filled life turned into a daily battle for survival. Or so she had thought.  
Her bracelets sparked at her wrists lightly, warning her to stand up and prepare for her next interaction with a guard. She glanced towards the door curiously, finally standing up with the additional urging of the choker. She had returned from her shower a little over an hour and a half ago, or so the clock on her wall said. Funny how the one thing she didn't want to know about was the only thing she could see every day; the passing of time a constant reminder of how 'lucky' she was. Turning back to the door, she held a neutral stance, subtly ready in case anybody got any ideas. It had been a couple of months since she had last been beaten by an overzealous guard, so the cuffs will sting a little without her growing immunity to it, but she was ready for an exercise that dealt with another person and not just the four walls of her room.  
The door burst open and a button in the guard's hand released her shock jewelry. She rubbed at the spots, surprised causing her to drop her defenses. She was impressed to note that the skin wasn't nearly as cracked and dead as she had surmised. Feeling the soft skin, she felt a smile stretch across her lips at the foreign sensation. Peeking upward, she looked to the guard. His head was still bent, eyes on the device in his hand instead of her. The smile turned into a grim smirk and in two steps she had reached him, kicking him out of the doorway that had mocked her daily. Grabbing him by the collar, she punched down on his jaw and stood, getting ready to exit. However, her zeal was apparently what they had been waiting for.   
Two new Guards grabbed her from both sides, holding fast as she tugged at each arm. A third took the cuff from the floor, and quickly clipped it around her right wrist. She winced as the sensory needles pierced the skin, something her shock jewelry didn’t have, and spat at the man. The other two were moving to be behind her, pulling her arms with them. Using the shift in weight to her advantage, she went limp temporarily to throw them off balance. Catching herself before she hit the ground, twisted out of their grips and pulled them forward and into the other one. Staring at the pile she made, she rubbed at her neck, subconsciously shocking herself. Shaking it off, she jumped over them, muttering under her breath as she took off.   
"My birthday is in two months, damn it!” She grit the comment out, running down the steps in a search for an escape. “No way are you gonna float me before then. No way is my mom’s sacrifice gonna be in vain."  
She knew it was fruitless, countless other attempts have taught her that well enough, but this she couldn’t take, not this time. Sure they knew about the tampering, but the chancellor had deemed she got to serve the three year sentence as if they didn’t. Yeah, really considerate of you Jaha, thanks... She rolled her eyes at the thought, making her way through the solitary block. She’d made it down the first couple ladders before she was stopped by a wall of guards. Putting her fists up into a fighting stance, she prepared herself for a fight. Unfortunately, the sound of boots behind her caused her to shift it into one of surrender. She couldn't fight that many of them off without the risk of some of their more...severe punishments later. The Guard Killer facade would have to go away for now. It was in her best interest. Two guards approached her, one pulling her hands behind her back, while the other glanced at her with sadistic glee.  
"Prisoner 079, you are one of the 100 being sent down to Earth." He sneered, shaking his head in a disgusted look of wonder. "Looks like you won't be getting floated after all, such a shame."  
"Yeah lucky me..." She sneered, glaring at the man with disdain. "I'll get to die of radiation by being sent to a planet a hundred years early. Guess you won't get to have the pleasure of seeing my death after all, Simmons."  
And with that comment, Andrea Wilson was beat over the head with a baton and sent into a state of unconsciousness. Damn me and my loud mouth.  
When she came to, she was surprised to find herself in a chair. It had been years since she sat in a chair. Albeit, she was strapped to this current chair and undergoing a strange feeling that can only be described as turbulence, but she was in a chair. Looking around, she could see a bunch of other people around her. No...not a bunch, She corrected herself with a rye smile, a hundred. There were mixed conversations around her, but she ignored them, feeling the back of her head, which had always been weak after the concussion from her arrest, and taking in her surroundings. Though there was no blood, she could feel a slight bump in her head as she caught sight of an old childhood ward, all but forgotten in the following years. He was sitting in one of the chairs a level below her but just seeing a familiar face made her relax a fraction of a muscle movement.   
Shaking her head, Andrea wished that she had known that Finn was arrested. She hoped that meant Raven was okay, but how was she to know? It must have been one of those details that Daniel seemed content in hiding from her. He liked to do that; omit different news and information from her life in a vague attempt at protection. If only she could have done the same. Or maybe it just hadn't happened yet, she couldn't be sure. The only thing that was important was how he would react when he met this her...the her that was shaped by the Ark.  
She turned to her left and looked at the kid who was strapped to a 'chair' against the wall in a standing position. Noticing that, based on the animated conversation between his neighbor, he seemed to be sitting with his best friend, or at least someone he knew pretty well, she decided to try and make some conversation of her own.  
"Hey, do either of you knuckleheads know what's going on?" They turned both of their eyes going wide, she sighed, dropping her head briefly before facing them again. "Right….this is going to be a new thing I guess. yes, I’m who you think I am, and yes, I am still asking you a question even though I can tell you don’t really like who I am. Can we get over our shock and answer the question; Is it true? They're actually sending us to the ground?"  
The one further away from her, one who looked like he would have been of Asian descent prior to the ark, shook his head slightly and nodded, "Uh, yeah, rumors say we're either being sent to test if it's survivable, or that they're testing new way to mass float us and get rid of unneeded tech."  
"Based on some of the solitary punishments that were enacted to 'save resources', I'm guessing the first rumor is the correct one..." She mused, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "Andrea Wilson, either of you guys like to be called anything?"  
"I'm Monty, and the one gawking next to you is Jasper." the same boy from before answered, his tone apologetic.  
Andrea turned to notice that he was indeed gawking at her. Though he had some awkward facial features, she couldn't help but compare him to a lost puppy; cute, with a hint of sadness. She opened her mouth to say something to that end, but they all jolted for a second, the turbulence increasing.  
"What was that?" Jasper gasped, looking around at everyone's confusion. Yup, Andrea thought, Definitely taking you under my wing, ya little cutie.  
"That," She stated, looking around the air above her head, "Was the atmosphere...and about a 50/ 50 chance of it being the final nail in our coffin."  
"Wow...you’re quite the charmer," Monty grumbled, looking to his freaked-out friend, "Though given the stories...I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised."  
"Depends on the stories, Mont. Some of them are a little far off, even to be mine." She grinned, though it quickly dropped when a screen issuing the Chancellor's face turned on. "And now...we see if my macabre statement is in fact accurate or not."  
"Prisoners of The Ark, here me now. You've been given a second chance, and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable."  
"Expendable...Right." Andrea scoffed, ignoring the calls to a Wells about how ‘his father was a dick’. "That's just fancy speak for we should have had better population control."  
Jasper looked in shock at how quickly she shifted tones, "What, you don't like the idea of being a saving grace for the Ark?"  
She turned to him; her eyes squinted as the Chancellor rambled on about clean records. "We are about to land on a planet that isn't supposed to be sustainable to humans for another hundred years, when it hasn't even been the first hundred years leaving us nothing to expect and you think a little promise of a clean slate and being the savior of “humanity” is going to make me happy?" She let out a slight hum, with the silence. "Hmm?"  
"You know...I didn't really think of it that way..." he gulped looking to Monty, "Looks like we're screwed buddy."  
"Not necessarily..." Monty murmured, eyes intent on the screen, indicating with his head for them to pay attention. "Listen."  
They all turned to see Jaha still rambling on. "Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain 300 people for up to two years."  
There were cries as her old ward un-clipped himself and floated his way to a girl who was across from where Drea was sitting. The action left a ghost of a smile on her lips, he was always one to follow her in her deviant ways, but she paid them no attention, turning back to her new, complacent companions? No: she'll just settle for the neutral, merely compatriots in a similar situation. No need to build up false hopes or to prepare herself for hurt so quickly upon reintegration to society.  
"Okay, I'll give you that one...Jaha's not a total dick. He made sure that if we live, we could have food." She felt her lip twitch in a slight grimace, "That may or may not still be good ninety-seven years later."  
"Damn..." Jasper whispered, "You are one hell of a pessimist."  
"It comes with being alone for three years just waiting to be floated." She shrugged, " I didn't choose to be who I am, kid, they made me.”  
"Well, from what I heard, they had a few casualties first." Monty replied, "Not to mention that you were already a bit of a troublemaker."  
"Hey! Those were in self-defense and a slight mischievous streak doesn’t deserve the skybox." She warned, her tone a little sterner than she meant to. "If it wasn't for what got me arrested, I would be a perfectly capable and law-abiding member of the guard right now. My sentence is not who I am....I’m sure they didn’t cover my experience in the stories so...you’ll never know, and neither will the justice department if the guard hasn’t been caught by now."  
Her rant was punctuated with a severe jerk of the ship, and for different people to scream and start to panic with the different sparks and shaking that was going on due to their landing. Though she knew that it was just because the old machine needed a few seconds to kick start, Drea felt her gut twist in an uncomfortable knot that tightened with each second of their descent. She watched in shock as one of the jolts caused two boys, who had stupidly copied Finn, to crash into different parts of the ship. She didn't need to see them to know that they were goners. Two down...98 to go. And we didn't even open the damn doors yet. She mused solemnly, looking around as they all stopped, and the lights went out only to come back on with an absence of noise.  
"Listen." Monty spoke up, breaking the silence, "No machine hum."  
Andrea nodded, mentally saying Jasper's verbal, "Whoa...that's a first."  
"You're tellin' me." she sighed, "You know it's actually kinda-"  
Her thought was cut off by the mass clicking of seat belts being un-clipped and an eruption of conversations. It figured that she would start to say something nice about the silence only to have a mass crowd of teenagers destroy it in one fell swoop. She shook her head, slowly undoing her own seat. She had half expected Jasper and Monty to bolt as soon as they were free, but was surprised to see that they were waiting for her. She gave them a cynical expression, an eyebrow raised.  
"I guess it was too much to ask that I scared you off, huh?"  
Monty gave a short laugh, "Are you serious? Having you with us, makes us look way more badass and untouchable than if we left you behind."  
"Yeah," Jasper agreed, "Plus, now people will be too scared of you to mess with us."  
"I've barely known you guys for an hour and you're using me as a bouncer?" Drea let out a short laugh, shaking her head slightly as they nodded "Okay I suppose that’s fair. Come on: Let's just get our asses down to the lower level...it seems like that's the only exit off of this damn piece of scrap metal."  
They made their way down, just as a blonde yelled out to the only guard that was there, "The air could be toxic!"  
As the trio made their way through the crowd, the guard looked down at the girl sternly, "If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyway."  
"Gee, isn't he just a ball of sunshine." Andrea muttered, watching as he moved to pull the lever to the door. He paused, however, when a call of 'Bellamy?' could be heard from behind her. "And he has a name like Bellamy...even better."  
Everyone watched as a young girl who looked very similar to this Bellamy character climbed down the ladder she was on and slowly made her way towards the front. Andrea stood to the side, observing and wondering why this reunion seemed so important. As the girl reached him, however, it was plain to see. His face had lightened up significantly and the girl had a relaxed posture. As he looked down at her, he smiled, his voice thick with emotion. They were family.  
"My God, look how big you are." He choked, looking near ready to cry.  
And without a second thought the girl had thrown herself into his arms, the two locked in a strong, and emotional embrace. It reminded Andrea of when she used to be hugged by her father, which only brought on a slew of memories she had buried deep inside her.  
"What the hell are you wearing?" The girl said, pulling away from Bellamy with a disgusted tone. "A Guard's uniform?"  
Bellamy smiled, shrugging lightly, "I borrowed it to get on the drop ship." She looked to him skeptically, "Someone has to keep an eye on you."  
They went into another embrace, the girl clearly happy to see the guy. As touching as it was, it was happening right in front of their exit, making Drea about ready to shove them out of the way. After three years of a room all to herself, this hodge-podge of bodies was making her start to feel a bit claustrophobic. Instead, she was saved by the blonde from before, her voice stern and nosey.  
"Where's your wristband?" She demanded, looking to Bellamy with a nearly angry expression.  
Who the hell cares? Andrea thought, as the other girl pulled herself away from the guy to glare at the speaker.  
"Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year."  
Her head shot back up from where she'd been looking at her shoes in an attempt to calm her growing nerves. Had she said Brother? How was that even remotely possible? Little did she know how soon those questions would be answered, thanks to the calling out of a boy and a girl, respectively.  
"No one has a brother!"  
"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden in the floor."  
Andrea felt her lips tilt down in a pensive frown, the Blake girl's face tensing as she got ready for a fight. Clearly, the girl was a little testy about how she'd gotten arrested. Not that I blame her, if I had been forced to live under the floor my whole life, I would be too. As she went to charge after whoever had spoken, Bellamy held her back.  
"Octavia, Octavia, no." She stopped struggling to look back at him, " Let's give them something else to remember you by."  
Octavia pulled away from him, her resentment clearly still reflected towards him as well. "Yeah? Like what??"  
Bellamy just smiled at her though, his idea clearly about to win him points. "Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years."  
As they shared a smile, Drea couldn't help but grumble, "It's actually been ninety-seven years, Bud, but I guess no one else is counting."  
Jasper and Monty each shoved her with their elbows, effectively shutting her up as the door opened with a hiss of steam due to the pressurization. She instantly threw her hand up to guard her face from the bright light that was outside, waiting for death or her eyes to adjust. Luckily, the air seemed pretty breathable, so she was left to blink away the last of the pain, taking in the trees all around her. She let out a sigh at seeing the open Earth, her overcrowded feeling dwindling. She didn't even pay attention to the younger Blake’s first step onto the ground. She was too preoccupied taking in all of the foliage that she had only seen in books and drawings. It was all so fresh and crisp and clean that she didn't know what to say, but luckily, Octavia seemed to sum it up perfectly.  
Snapping Andrea from her thoughts, the girl threw her hands up in the hair with a yell, "We're back, Bitches!!"  
Everyone burst out of the drop ship then, taking in the same sight that Andrea just had. She followed Jasper and Monty, ignoring the looks she was getting from people, along with the whispers. There wasn't that much to talk about in 'lockup' so it was no surprise that everyone knew the higher profile arrests. She decided to not listen, instead finding something to do to commemorate their first day on Earth. They stopped a little ways away from where all the cute little convicts were dancing round, the three looking up and around themselves at all of the forest. Andrea turned to them, feeling a smile involuntarily creep up on her face.  
"Whoo!" Jasper yelled out, clapping his hands together in excitement. "Now what?"   
"I don't even know where to start with all of this..." Monty breathed out, spinning in a slow circle. Andrea, meanwhile, already had a plan of action, causing him to stop. “What are you doing?”  
"I don't know about you fellas..." she drawled, continuing her stretch for the low hanging branch of the tree above her, "But I'm gonna climb this tree."  
The boys watched in amazement as she started to feel her way up the trunk, finding footholds and testing her weight against them before she pushed up with her foot. She wasn't all that scared of the height, they just fell from space for fuck's sake, but she was cautious of the drop. They didn't have any doctors or medical supplies for her to hurt herself on the first day. Not that she really trusted any of these delinquents to patch her up if she did, but that's beside the point. The thing that the small crowd of awestruck teens now surrounding the tree didn't know was that she could very well fall at any minute in spite of this lack of trust. Then again, she was always reckless, being in the Sky Box or Earth didn't change that. She may as well be the age her records say at this rate.  
Andrea took in the area around them, enjoying the forest around them. There were trees for miles, along with a couple of streams and a pond or two, but what made her most annoyed was what lay on the other side. Peaking over the horizon looked like a mountain, and not just a small area like the one they seem to be on, but a tall and foreboding one. The kind that looked like it would hold the name Mount Weather.  
She scoffed, looking down from where she'd climbed, "Fuckin' figures. Their 'carefully picked' drop site is miles from where we actually dropped."  
"You alright up there, Monkey?" She looked down at the sudden noise to see Monty squinting up at her, "Or should we call for help?"  
"Monkey?" She called down, making her descent slowly. "What the hell is that about? Did you already forget my name?"  
"We land on Earth and the first thing you do is climb a tree? Seems like a pretty good nickname to me! "He answered, a grin barely visible on his face, "I'm just impressed you knew what one was and how to climb it."  
"Well, I had nothing to do, but train and read during my-" She stopped, slipping on some moss on the branch below her .  
"Oh shit!"  
She started to plummet, her back exposed to the branches below her. She scrambled to grab a hold of anything over her to break her fall-which wasn't exactly short- but failed with each swing. She was just about ready to give up and accept her fate, when she smacked a branch with about a third of the way left, causing her to turn. She winced, but brushed off the pain, wrapping herself around the next branch and steadying herself. Kiddie cornering herself so that her back was stretched out against the trunk and there was one limb to a branch, she let out a sigh. Perfect fuckin' timing there, Drea...you nearly got yourself killed with that little stunt.  
"Andrea!" Jasper finally managed to get out, causing a ripple of shock to go through the group of onlookers. "Are you alright?"  
"Oh yeah," She breathed out, an easy smile finding its way around her lips, "I'm just peachy. Next time though, I think I'll try talking before I start climbing."  
The two boys laughed, but it was cut short by the comments she'd been expecting since she got placed on the damn ship.  
"Is that Andrea Wilson, the girl who killed all those guards and got her mother and boyfriend floated?"  
"I heard that her boyfriend was a guard, so does that add to the total?"  
"What is she doing up there, trying to kill herself?"  
"If I was locked up in solitary for three years and had my only friend floated for being associated with me I'd-"  
Andrea growled low in her throat, Daniel still too fresh in her mind, it had been less than a year since his death after all. She knew she shouldn’t let a bunch of juveniles get to her, but that fact remained true. So, she took stock of the crowd, and lowered herself down a couple more feet. Once she’d adjusted and was comfortable with the height, she decided to showboat, and kicked off the trunk. For added flare, she used her momentum to flip, landing in front of the kid who made the last comment. The kid looked about thirteen or so, his face still covered in the acne breakout that came with the onset of puberty. Also, Andrea didn't exactly pride herself in being a very tall person, but this kid was short enough that she was able to tower above him to make her point.  
"You'd what, punk?" She snarled, keeping her voice low. "You'd make comments while the person you're talking about is up in a tree? Not a very brave thing if you ask me."  
"I was just..." He trailed off, fear clearly in his eyes.  
"Just what?" She demanded, moving closer to him and making him scramble away, "Trying to look like a tough guy down here on Earth? Well guess what, I wasn't trying to kill myself for that guard's willing involvement with me. Instead, I was trying to gain a faint sense of bearings so that if we get lost in this damn forest that none of us knows about, someone would have a vague idea on what the terrain is. Dumbass."  
Shoving her way through the crowd, she stopped when she noticed a small pack of guys that looked tougher than they probably were being led by some pale, scowl faced kid with a squash for a nose. They were looking at her with a nearly territorial gaze, making her skin crawl. Not that she let them see it, glaring them down instead. Nobody was going to own her, and if she needed to beat up some cocky ass kid to prove a point, she would be more than happy to.  
"You idiots got something to say?" She bit out, pausing in front of their leader. "Or are you gonna keep going on your merry little way?"  
"Damn...Serial Killer's got a mouth," Squash nose laughed, a smirk on his face, "Isn't that a shocker."  
"And Squash Nose's got a highly unoriginal nickname for me." She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Shocker."  
"The name's John Murphy," he scowled, clearly taking offense to her picking him on his facial features. "And you're Andrea Wilson, right?"  
"Yup, the mass guard killing psycho they decided to send to Earth, not even close to being at your service." She snipped, ignoring the offered hand with a tight lipped smile. She would have said more, but she noticed Jasper heading over towards the drop ship near the buzz kill who almost didn't let them out of the drop ship. "But if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than swap war stories with a bunch of people whose sentences I’m sure were child’s play."   
She moved fast, looking for where Monty went, but couldn't find him, she reached other boy at the same time they reached the others.  
"Ah, cool," He started, his nerves showing as he made an attempt at flirtation, something he clearly wasn’t very strong at. "A map. They got a bar in this town? I'll buy you a beer."   
"You mind?"  
The other boy turned around, grabbing at him and Andrea inserted herself between them. Sure enough, it was Wells Jaha she was staring at now, as Jasper shrank behind her. As she pushed back, she looked up at the guy to give him a piece of her mind when she heard a familiar voice speak up next to her.   
"Hey, hands off them. They’re with us."  
"You want to try that again?" Andrea snarled, looking at how uncomfortable the other two seemed with that prospect, and not enjoying that he stepped into a situation she had totally under control. "You want to help, fine, but don't assume shit about my allegiances after talking to me for five seconds."  
"Relax, everyone." Wells said as Murphy looked ready to jump at her. "We're just trying to figure out where we are."  
"On the wrong mountain." Andrea stated at the same time Bellamy strode up.  
"We're on the ground." Everyone looked to him aside from the blonde who looked at her in confusion. Yeah, I'm more than a pretty face and a bad rep, girlie. I can look at a landscape. "That not good enough for you?"  
Wells looked to the 'guard' impatiently, moving there as Andrea moved to make sure Jasper was okay, he nodded that he was and she followed the conversation. "We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority."  
Octavia spoke up next to her brother, her tone bitter, "Screw your father."  
They looked in shock as she snapped, but Andrea expected it. If they found her under the floor, and then put her in the Sky Box, she was bound to hate anyone with authority. Andrea was surprised the girl could even still stand her brother. Octavia tilted her head at the confusion as if it was obvious.  
"What, you think you're in charge here, you and your little Princess?"  
The blonde, who Andrea was just going to call Buzzkill until she found out her name, stepped forward, "Do you think we care who's in charge? We need to get to Mount Weather not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this'll be. How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a twenty-mile trek, okay? So if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave now."  
Andrea almost wanted to clap at the performance, as well as add some uplifting speech music playing in her head, but it was cut short by Bellamy trying to take over the camp. Figures that the only other person above eighteen would do that. I mean it makes sense, but we'll just have to see how well that plays out for him.  
"I got a better idea. You two go, find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change."  
There were cheers of agreement around them making Wells angry . "You're not listening. We all need to go."  
Squash nosed Murphy showed up behind him, pushing him slightly and making Buzzkill try and get him only to be held back by a lackey.  
"Look at this everybody...the Chancellor of Earth."  
"You think this is funny?" Wells demanded, only for the other boy to push him so that his ankle rolled badly. He let out a grunt as he hit the floor, making Andrea angry. Sure the kid got in her friend’s face, but this wasn't how the first day on Earth should start.  
"No, but that was."  
"Hey, asshole," Andrea called out, getting between them to allow Wells to recover. "Maybe you should put your ego away and listen to them."  
"Yeah, and what are you gonna do about it, Serial Killer?" He snapped, looking at Wells in anticipation. "Huh?"  
She shoved him back as he moved to attack, "Kick your ass if I have to! Listen, I hate Jaha and the council as much as the next person, some days maybe even more. However, what these two have to say is right. How the hell are two people going to bring back enough for a hundred of us?"  
"She's right," Wells said, his hands up and ready to fight as there were jeers about him being protected by a girl. "If you want us to do the work, then fine but you need more than just the two of us if you all want food and supplies."  
Murphy just scowled, "I've had enough of this, come one. You want to teach me a lesson? Why don't you come over here and try."  
Andrea looked to the injured teen, trying to figure out what he was thinking. He was limping, but he was going for it. Score one for Jaha...He's got guts and is willing to use them for what he believes in. She stayed close, but found that it wasn't even necessary, for as soon as Murphy was about ready to attack, Finn spun down from where he had been perched to land between the two. The attacker paused for a second, looking from the ledge on the ship to him with a look that was caught between fear and respect.  
"Kid's got one leg," He said, staring Murphy down, "Why don't you wait until it's a fair fight?"  
Murphy looked Finn up and down, backing off. Andrea scoffed at how easy he was to stop. Seriously, what a pansy. All it took was some slight acrobatics and a long-haired teen to tell him the obvious? What a disappointment of a bully. Octavia, however, decided to break the tension.  
"Hey, Spacewalker," she called out, looking at him with a slightly sultry look, "Rescue me next."  
People laughed and dispersed, making Andrea sneak up on her old friend. "Spacewalker, really? And here I thought you would have gotten arrested for something less childish...or maybe that was what you had to work with."  
He turned, his eyes widening in shock, "Andrea? They sent you down here?" She nodded and he hugged her briefly. "I thought they would have waited to see you floated."  
"Yeah so did I." she laughed, "Simmons looked pissed when he got me."  
"How have you been?" He paused, rambling out a sort of apology, "You know outside of the obvious."  
"Oh, I'm great." She chuckled, giving a shrug, "I climbed my first tree and made two friends that are quickly turning into wards, but other than that I'm...surviving."  
"You going to come on our 'twenty-mile trek'?" He asked, the two of them moving to where Buzzkill was taking care of Wells. "Could use someone of your talents to help us."  
"You mean a fighting machine who just lands herself in trouble all the time?" She shook her head, "No, I think I'll probably stay here...something's off about our 'guard' friend over there."  
Finn shook his head at her air quotes, turning to Buzzkill with a brightened expression. Oh no....I know that look; better not happen if he’s still with Raven. " So Mount Weather. When do we leave?"  
"Right now." She sighed, standing up from the boy she'd been tending, her voice resolute, "We'll be back tomorrow with food."  
"That's all well and good," Andrea started, “but...one question:"  
"How are the two of you gonna carry enough food for a hundred?" Wells finished incredulously.  
Finn turned, grabbing Monty and Jasper from where they were standing behind the four. "Four of us. Can we go now?"  
Andrea tilted her head, trying to figure out why in the hell he was so impatient when the Blakes showed up, Octavia looking peppier than she'd ever been seen before. "Sounds like a party. Make it five."  
“Hey” Bellamy looked at her with an overprotective brother bite in his words. "What the hell are you doing?"  
Octavia shrugged his hand off her arm and pointed to the group as if it was obvious, " Going for a walk?"  
Andrea and Bellamy were both about to say something about it, but Buzzkill noticed the scratch marks on Finn's wristband. Grabbing it, she looked at him in shock. "Hey, were you trying to take this off."  
"Yeah," He shook his head, "So?"  
"So, this wristband transmits your vital signs to The Ark." She tossed his wrist back to his chest, "Take it off, and they'll think you're dead."  
Finn looked at her blankly, "Should I care?"  
"Well, I don't know." She looked at him meaningfully, "Do you want the people you love to think you're dead? Do you want them to follow you down here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying."  
Andrea was watching Bellamy's face the entire time this conversation was happening. There were dots being connected there, and she was glad she decided on recon instead of the hike.   
"You coming with?" Monty said, making her turn to her right, Jasper next to him throwing some serious puppy eyes. "The more the merrier."  
She laughed lightly, watching as Bellamy moved towards Squash Nose with a determined look in his eyes. " I think I'm good, guys, you go ahead. Have an adventure. Get the girl."  
"Get the-pssh-no one said anything about-...I don't know what you're..." Andrea looked to Jasper with a raised eyebrow, making him laugh nervously as his eyes followed Octavia, "Right...note to self, stop being so obvious."  
"Yeah... good luck with that. Now go...have fun and be careful." She looked around for a second, the terrain filled with surprises. "You never know what's out there."  
They nodded and headed out with the others. Andrea watched them go, moving towards the wannabe guard and pushing her way past the other delinquents. She wanted to know what he was up to, but also, wanted to see who he was. "Hey, Daddy Dearest!" He turned, making her smirk slightly, "Wasn't expecting you to actually respond to that...you got a kid toddling about the Ark or something?"  
"What the hell do you want, Convict?" he snapped, the girl clearly not on his good side.  
"Considering my rep, that is really one of the worst possible nicknames you could have given me. Even Squash Nose over there was better and that's because he named me my crime." She sighed, slightly disappointed, "But then again, I didn't come over here to discuss naming skills."  
"What did you come over here to discuss then?" He grit out, clearly losing what little patience he had to begin with and starting to leave her, "Because I have important things to do."  
"You mean like making sure the Ark doesn't come down here?" He paused, looking at her in shock, "Yeah, I saw the look on your face when Buzzkill back there was telling Finn about the wristbands. You don't want them down here and I'm guessing that has something to do with the fact that you didn't exactly get a golden ticket like the rest of us. You're clearly over eighteen, so whatever crime you did would have had you floated. Which means you either snuck on, or you traded a seat for a favor of sorts. Bottom line, you can't have them finding you."  
"Are you getting to a point in the foreseeable future?" He snapped, causing her to smirk. So she was right.  
"You're planning on getting all of these scared kids to take their wristbands off and I want in." She folded her arms over her chests, "Hell, I'll even be the first one in line."  
"And why would you do that?" He didn't believe her. Damn, and here I thought he was smart...  
"They locked me up for three years where my life was constantly put to the test when I was wrongly accused for my crime, and floated my mother when I tried to tell her the truth, and she doctored my records. My dad’s fate, still unknown after what I had ‘done’. And to add salt to the slowly healing wound, they killed the only other person to give a shit about me so… " She tilted her head to the side with a slight shrug, "As far as I'm concerned they can all float themselves."  
That and I’d rather keep track of the other person my age since none of these kids are going to.  
Bellamy looked at her, still unsure, but he nodded, "Well, let's just hope that everyone else has that mentality."  
She smiled, sensing the beginning of an interesting alliance/surveillance job. "Let's."


	3. Reassurances

Drea winced, rubbing at her slightly scuffed wrist.

“Okay, so now that we have a method, we need to get the muscle and numbers to execute it.” She raised an eyebrow. “Certainly convenient that you didn’t get one of these shackles, huh.”

Making their way through camp, they went to look for Murphy, Bellamy made a snide comment about her not being as tough as they claim. Rolling her eyes, she gave him a half hearted punch that he could tell was meant to shut him up. She was very goal oriented and they had a mission to do: Find Murphy and his goons to gather people and remove bracelets. They had discovered a technique that while uncomfortable, worked and she was more than a little excited to get started. She didn’t even ask for his reasons, just agreed to help him, and for that he was grateful. As for her choice in minions, he didn’t know why she thought of Murphy since he could tell she already can’t stand the guy. Bellamy was equally confused and impressed by her tactics, figuring there had to be something he didn’t see or know yet. Finally, he spoke up about it, having stewed in his befuddlement long enough. 

“So tell me again why we need Murphy of all people to help enact this plan?” The question made her pause, turning away from their destination to look at him. 

“Look, I get it, the guy’s a dick. I personally can’t stand ol’ Squash Nose, but,” She crossed her arms. “He has the one thing that neither of us really have right now.” 

“And what is that?” He was getting annoyed with her vague answers that held riddles in them. Couldn’t she just speak to the point and waste less time around the subject? It was a small wonder that they sent her down here, she took up three people’s worth of air just with her side of a conversation.

“Numbers.” She stated, looking at him like he was an idiot. “As soon as we landed he got himself a little posse of dumbasses following him around and doing whatever he tells them to. Now, they may not have the best choices in a leader, but they only have to think they’re following him when in fact…” 

“They’re following us.” He finished, watching her tap her nose to indicate he’d gotten it.

“And now he’s catching on! Shall we get a move on then?” They continued forward only to see Wells storm off, slamming his shoulder against the very man they were looking for. 

“You spelled ‘Die’ wrong, geniuses.” 

Andrea looked to the drop ship, a rye smile forming on her lips, “Not to mention it’s inaccurate...unless you know for a fact that the two idiots that thought they could copy Spacewalker were first sons as well.” 

Bellamy nodded, the two of them finally reaching Murphy. “If you’re gonna kill someone, it’s probably best not to announce it.” 

He laughed lightly, looking between the two of them. “You’re not really a member of the guard, are you?” He pointed towards Andrea, “Otherwise you wouldn’t be so chummy with Serial Killer here.” 

“You know, I do like my guards,” she sneered. “But if I didn’t need you right now, I’d have to say, you’d make a great exception to my MO.” 

“You’re what?” He said, looking to her with a look that was so stupid, it Bellamy thought her eyes were going to fall out of her head from rolling them so hard.

“Modus Operandi?” He had to keep himself from laughing at the blank expression on the boy's face. “Nothing? It’s what makes my killing my killing; My type that I go after or way I go about killing. God, read a book you jackass.” 

Murphy’s face pinched, and he went to strike her. However, her moves weren’t pulled like her punch earlier, and she grabbed his arm, folding it behind his head in a swift arch of her hand. While it was less than ideal when they needed him, Bellamy couldn’t help but be impressed; girl had fast reflexes. And to be fair, the guy had been asking for it since they landed. 

“Now, not that this little dance of ours isn’t fun or anything, but let’s backtrack to your initial question.” She smirked, looking toward him to start the pitch. “Bellamy, are you a member of the guard?” 

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “No. The Real guard will be here soon unless we stop it.” 

Murphy and his lackey looked at the man blankly, making Andrea grown, pushing him back and standing in front of him, “You’ll have to explain it to them, Blake, they can’t infer things on their own.” 

“You don’t think they’re gonna forgive your crimes.” He laughed a little, Murphy’s head dropping, “Even if they do, then what? Guys like us, we’re gonna become model citizens now, get jobs, if we’re lucky, maybe pick up their trash?”

The kid next to Murphy spoke up, his voice deep for his age. “You got a point?”

“Well damn,” She gasped. “One of them actually speaks.” 

Bellamy fixed her with a look, making her back off, “No. I got a question. They locked you up, dumped you down here like lab rats to die. So why are you helping them?” 

The kid looked angrily, as if just now realizing all those facts to be true. “The hell we are.” 

“See,” Andrea pinched her lips together, opening her palms in a neutralizing gesture, “You say that, and I want to believe you, I do but-” 

“You’re wearing those bracelets, aren’t you?” Bellamy looked to them both, the intensity of his voice increasing that of the situation, “Right now, those things are telling them whether or not it’s safe to follow us down.” 

Murphy cut off whatever else he had to say, looking between the two of them curiously, “Okay. You said we could stop it.” He looked just at Bellamy now, “How?” 

“Well, it’s easy, really.” Andrea said, lifting her arm and pulling her jacket sleeve down. It did look a little rough for wear, but they both knew it was an improvement. 

“Take them off.” Bellamy said, looking to the two guys, “The Ark will think you’re dead, that it’s not safe to follow. You follow?” 

Murphy let out a light breath of laughter turning to his friend, “ Right, and if we do, I mean, what’s in it for us?” 

It was Bellamy’s turn to laugh now, leaning forward before the two of them left, “Someone has got to help me run things.” 

They walked down the hill then, having made their point, and adding a flare of drama to the situation. Teens loved their drama, right, so why not play with the suspense? Taking in all of the different tents and fires that were being built to make this area a home. Andrea was walking next to him, nibbling on her thumb in thought. It was irritatingly familiar but he couldn’t quite figure out why. It was her idea to appeal to the guy’s ego, so it couldn’t be that could it? But then he thought about it, Murphy’s name calling, the fear and stares as they walked by. She thought he was going to keep her hidden, locked away like a lion in a cage; voiceless yet ominous for anyone who disobeyed. Just like the Guards in the Skybox, just like the Ark. A weird guilt twisted in his stomach, making him want her to start jabbering again.

“Something on your mind, Convict?” She looked up to meet his gaze, raising an eyebrow. “This is probably the quietest I’ve seen you since we landed.” 

“Well sorry if I was reading your reactions earlier and decided to be quieter, Babe.” She quipped, her lip curling at the name. He was definitely keeping that name then, he needed to get under her skin a little too. “Or you know I could make some sort of remark about how three years of solitude makes a girl enjoy the quiet, but really that ship has sailed way too many times today.” She sighed, “The truth is...I want to know why I wasn’t part of the leadership in that co-pitch we just did.” 

He shook his head, not expecting her to be so direct about it. “What do you mean?” 

She paused, nibbling on her thumbnail again before speaking. “I mean what was with all that ‘someone has to help ME run things’. shit?” She said, dropping her voice a couple of octaves to poorly imitate his voice. 

“Seriously?” She nodded, with a look that said, ‘yes seriously’ making him laugh a little, “For someone who likes to belittle other people’s intelligence you can have your moments.” 

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean, Blake?” Her voice was a low snarl now, not liking to be mocked. 

“It means that Murphy would never have listened if he knew that you were one of the people calling the shots… not to mention you don’t have that older age thing going for you.” 

“So what you’re saying is that Murphy’s a sexist pig and you don’t have your facts straight.” She nodded, continuing to move again. “Fair enough.” 

“Exa-” he looked at her, grabbing her arm to stop her from going any further, “Don’t have my facts straight?” 

“My records were tampered with, Genius.” She quipped, tapping her temple, “I should have died three years ago, but my parents changed my records to make me younger.” 

“So you’re...What...nineteen?” 

“Yeah my parents decided to give me just one year extra.” She laughed humorlessly, “No dumbass...I’m twenty-one.” His mouth made a slight ‘o’ and suddenly, all the pieces clicked into place. The thumbnail biting, the boyish behavior, the lilt as she mocked him, and now that he thought about it, the name. 

“Wait…You’re Captain Wilson’s Daughter?! The one with the severely contradictory nickname...what was it...it was a flower, but you insisted it was after some old book- Buttercup!” He snapped his fingers, grinning as she grimaced again. “You’re that Andrea?” 

“Wow, you really didn’t have your facts straight.” She said, her eyes widening at his epiphany. “But yes, ‘that Andrea’... Have we met?” 

“I’d be hurt, but I’m sure you didn’t spend time remembering old classmates.” Bellamy affirmed, the two of them walking again. “Wow, I always wondered what happened to you.” 

“Well now you know...and you know what they say…” She trailed off, opting to not complete whatever she was going to say. “But look, don’t expect me to start playing Mommy Dearest to all of these children after we get their wristbands off. I didn’t tell you this so you could fulfill some ‘Mommy and Daddy’ fantasy with 97 kids.” 

And with that parting comment she turned away, barely telling him to find her when Murphy came around. Bellamy just found himself standing there, shell shocked by what the skybox had done to one of his classmates. 

After leaving Bellamy- who she was now getting a vague memory of- behind, Andrea headed to the drop ship, looking for tent making tools and hoping to find herself some scrap pieces of the parachutes to make into her own tent. Gathering what she needed, she moved towards a tree that looked like it would support a small living area. Something about being in the tree today resonated with her and helped her to feel less cramped among everyone else. Once she picked one that seemed durable enough, She began her second climb of the day. 

The first order of business was making a clean climbing path, which meant pulling off the moss and doing her best to make a foothold with her shoe. Then, she found an opening in the branches that could hold what she needed. Luck seemed to be on her side, however, because someone a century ago seemed to have the same idea. She found herself cautiously stepping onto the wooden floor of a treehouse, or what was left of one. The floor had been preserved by the canopy, but the roof was rotted, and dripping into the structure. There was a small chest that she’d have to investigate later, and what looked to be a bed. She didn’t trust the mattress worth a damn, but she could stretch part of the parachute across the frame and fashion a cot. 

And so she did, stealing more than one of the pillow-like objects as well as a couple of lame excuses for blankets that were stowed away in the shuttle as padding and actual bedding. Discarding all the abandoned bits with a pulley system, not wanting to concuss anyone below. She secured holes in the floor and walls with lashing, and did her best to sweep away the leaves and rotting shingles. The chest was a small tool kit, pretty rudimentary, but there was a pocket knife that she carved her initials into-along with a childish ‘beware’. There was a broom that had been pretty well preserved in there as well, so she was able to clean a lot better, gathering up the rest to see if people could use them below. She mostly thought of Monty and Jasper, slightly worried that they weren’t back, but they seemed like they were resourceful, if a little awkward. From there, she just had to claim a pack, and she had her own little home in the sky. 

She made her descent down, taking a few practiced breaths to quell the hunger pangs. Taking the knife, she once again marked beware under ‘Guard Killer’s Lair’. It was simple and to the point, something she thought Bellamy would approve of given that she picked up on the fact that he considers her a loudmouth. Though if she remembered correctly, that was what a lot of people thought of her even before her arrest. Going into the drop ship, she noticed that Wells had a stockpile of firewood as well as buckets that were empty for the moment, but undoubtedly to be used for water. She gave a small nod, appreciating his preparation, and made a mental note to figure out her own way to obtain a personal stash of water. Grabbing a grey backpack, she was off, searching for an empty fire circle to explore its contents. It always paid to know your cards, and right now she was looking at a blind hand. 

Settling on a spot around the middle of the cluster, she ignored the hushed reactions to her arrival, going through the bag. A part of her wouldn’t have been surprised to find it empy, after all, they were limited on resources. However, she was pleasantly proven incorrect with what she found. Inside the small canvas bag was a ‘new’ jacket, a water bottle (that was not so shockingly empty), a flashlight (practical and something she would need until she knew the terrain better), a better quality knife (She’ll be keeping that hidden away from thieving hands), a compass, and a multi-tool (which she was excited to play with).   
Opening the last item, she noticed it was a ten function; bottle and can openers, three different knives, a small saw, both flat and phillips head screwdrivers, a pair of spring-loaded needle nose/ regular pliers (they were a two in one and also had some wire cutters near the joint) , and what seemed to be another albeit smaller flat head screwdriver. The sheath was crap and all the edges of the tool were in desperate need of sharpening, but otherwise, Andrea found this bag pretty useful. She shouldered the new jacket, her bare arms raw from the rough material of the Skybox’s uniform. This one was lined with a nice quilted fabric that was comfortable, but would undoubtedly keep her warm as well. It almost made her wonder what else she could steal from the other unclaimed packs, but instead she settled with the notion that they all had similar items, but not all the same. The only thing missing was a flint for making fires, and a whetstone for all the blades, but she had found each of those on the ground when a couple of kids were running around and went to put them in their bags. They missed, and she gained from it ;she was nothing if not a creature of opportunity.

The sky was darkening, her ‘tent’ setup having taken longer than she initially surmised. Then again, time was something Andrea realized she needed to regain a bearing of now that it wasn’t winding down to her death. Deciding that there was no way that Bellamy was going to wait until tomorrow to start with wristband removal, she left her fire to find the guy. The only problem was that she had no idea where to look. When she left him outside of the drop ship, he didn’t look like he was going anywhere, but that was hours ago and she was standing where they had been when they parted ways. So, after wandering outwards for a bit, she followed the sounds of excitement and discomfort. A combination that would normally have her worried. 

There was quite the crowd at one of the fires nearer to the dropship, Murphy bent over a girl with a crowbar poised at her wristband. With a little bit of a struggle, it came off followed by a bunch of cheering from the group. As the next girl stepped up, Andrea pushed her way through and smacked Bellamy’s arm. 

“Look who decided to join us,” He smirked, looking at the stack of cuffs in the fire, “Recruiting more deviators?” 

“Well considering I didn’t know we started, since I told you to come get me once we did...” She trailed off, crossing her arms over chest, “No, no I wasn’t.” 

“I told Murphy to send someone,” He shrugged, “You must’ve been too hard to find.” 

“Or, given that I was literally four fires away, he lied to cover his own incompetence.” She snarled, “I don’t like that kid, he either thinks he can cut me out or control me, but hear you me, if it comes to a power struggle I won’t hesitate to maim him.” 

“Now that is something I would watch.” Bellamy laughed, the other girl’s wristband coming off, “Who’s next?” 

Before there were any volunteers Wells showed up, looking around the circle in shock, “What the hell are you doing?” 

Murphy moved forward slightly, the crowbar prepped, but the older man pushed him back lightly with a hand on his chest, “We’re liberating ourselves. What does it look like?” 

Wells limped closer to him, his eyes intent, “It looks like you’re trying to get us all killed. The communication system is dead. These wristbands are all we got.” He bends his arms to wave his hands slightly, looking around desperately, “Take them off, and the Ark will think we’re dying, that it’s not safe for them to follow.” 

Andrea allowed herself to be an observer for this, and bit her tongue while Bellamy spoke, “That’s the point, Chancellor. We can take care of ourselves,” he turned to the rest of the hundred, “Can’t we?”

Everyone, Andrea included, cheered siding with the new leader of the delinquents. She felt a new sense of oneness with all of these kids, and part of her was scared of it. Had she become one of the mob? Had her mind been blanked out and turned into that of a sheep, bleating with the herd? She had initially followed Bellamy out of a strong urge to not trust him, and here she was partnering up with him. She shook it off, listening as Jaha’s son tried to reason with everyone. 

“You think this is a game? Those aren’t just our friends and our parents up there. They’re our farmers, our doctors, our engineers. I don’t care what he tells you.” He pointed to Bellamy, making Andrea happy she’d allowed him to take the fall. She was in her head, but that wasn’t particularly relevant at this juncture. 

“We won’t survive here on our own, and besides, if it really is safe, how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?” 

“Maybe because they deemed us expendable and left us down here to die.” Andrea snarled, unable to keep quiet anymore. That didn’t take long. “Because some of us don’t have our people up there anymore.” 

She felt herself break a little, but kept her facade from crashing visibly. Well fuck. She needed to pull herself together, it was the first day back with people and she wasn’t about to start showing sides of herself she wasn’t ready to show. Hell, most people knew her story already without her having to share it. Woman up, Wilson. She was pulled out of her internal reverie and glaring contest with Wells when Bellamy placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him quizzically, but saw the glint in his eyes and caught on. Time for a Sympathy play. 

“My people are already down. Those people locked my people up. Those people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child.” He paused, Andrea picking up the slack. Might as well dish it all out now while you’re able...rip off the bandaid.

“They killed my parents just for hearing my side of the story that got me sent to the Skybox.” She stated, all bets off as far as helping this kid. It was word against word now, nothing to make it unfair. “Tortured me for a crime I didn’t even commit.” 

Bellamy glared at Wells, “Your father did that.” 

Wells looked between the two of them, his eyes glassy as he still tried to take a stand, “My father didn’t write the laws.” 

Bellamy nodded, “No, he enforced them.” 

“And he didn’t change them.” Andrea snarled, her gut feeling sick at the thought, “He just let them stay as is without thinking of the pain they cause.” 

“But not anymore, not here.” Bellamy shook his head, his voice strengthening with conviction. “Here, there are no laws.” 

There were cries of contentment to that, Andrea feeling a smile grace her lips. I sense a speech coming on…

“Here, we do whatever the hell we want whenever the hell we want. Now, you don’t have to like it, Wells. You can even try to stop it or change it, kill me.” Bellamy paused, looking at him carelessly, “You know why? Whatever the hell we want.” 

Murphy yelled out,“Whatever the hell we want” over and over again, the rest of the crowd joining in. Andrea looked around with a sense of pride that these kids were taking a stand. They were doing what was right for them instead of the whole. Wells, on the other hand, looked at a loss about what to do, Bellamy holding his gaze in a challenge. A few people even started to bang on some metal ‘drums’ to add to the chant, and some, like Andrea, were clapping their hands to the beat. They carried on like this for a few minutes, a loud crack sounding across the sky. Looking up, the teens were all met with an eruption of rain that came out of nowhere. People stopped their chanting and yelled in excitement about the water, dancing in the rain. Wells looked to Bellamy, suddenly excited. 

“We need to collect this.” 

Andrea scoffed, “Were you listening to a thing he just said?” 

“Whatever the hell you want.” Bellamy stated, the pair watching him go.

Once he was out of sight, there was a brief glance between the two older criminals. They hadn’t really discussed the elephant in the forest of them having known each other at a far different point in their lives, and Drea wasn’t exactly ready to. They both opened their mouths, about to say something, but Andrea was whisked away by some random teen grabbing her by the waist and spinning her around in the rain. She was about to slug the poor bastard for daring to touch her without permission but then she thought about it and smiled. Whatever the hell we want...seems to be catching already. 

Throwing her hands up in the air, she looked to the sky as she got showered in water. It felt cold to her face, and sent chills down her spine. She had never been in a rainstorm before- hell, none of them have- and it was exhilarating and refreshing to experience. She had her fun for a little while longer, having been put down by the mystery boy and danced with him for a bit. She stopped when she saw Bellamy standing still, no longer enjoying the weather like the rest of them. Instead, his eyes were watching Wells as he moved to fill up his buckets. Moving next to her new partner, she watched as well, her emotions conflicted. On the one side, the kid was resourceful and knew what he was doing to survive, and on the other, he was being a real pain in the ass about staying in touch with the Ark. 

“What are we going to do about him?” She asked, more to herself than anything else. 

“We’ll just have to make him see our side…whether he likes it or not.” Bellamy stated, his gaze switching to that of a slender brunette who was swaying in the water, “We have our own experience to enjoy without him killing it.” 

“Right...you have fun with that.” she snorted, looking back to Wells, “As for Jaha...it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission. Just keep it clean, and don’t have Murphy do it unsupervised...whatever the hell we want leaves too much room for interpretation that one.” 

Bellamy nodded slowly as smirked across the fire, the girl now looking back at him. “Speaking of doing whatever the hell we want…” He clasped a hand on her shoulder briefly, heading away. “I’ll catch up with you later.” 

“I’m...not holding my breath.” She stated, moving towards her tree, “Have fun with the child.” 

Parting ways, the boy to his conquest and the girl to her bed, the two looked around at all of the kids they’ve set free. Sure they were all a bunch of criminals on a planet they knew little to nothing about, but they were freed from a rule that has been crippling who they could be. With no fear of floating or the Skybox, they could all free to be who they wanted to be. Though if Andrea was being honest, she wasn’t really sure how she felt about that. Like she said, the whole ‘no laws’ thing left lots of interpretation for things to be done. Whether or not that was a good thing was the question. 

Picking her way to bed, she decided that such things were questions for tomorrow and fell asleep to the sound of rain hitting buckets she’d snatched on her way up.


	4. Resocialization

When she woke up, Andrea was only slightly surprised to find her shirt soaking in the bucket closest to her. Impressed as she was that she made it into the vessel, it kinda left her strapped for clothing now. The saving grace being that she had her boots and the jumpsuit to keep her covered. Heaving a sigh, she filled and tied her bottle to her belt loop and pocketed her multi-tool along with one of the knives she had; she wasn’t going far, but she might as well be prepared for whatever could happen during the day. Making her way down the tree, she scowled with the discovery that, with her shirt gone, she was going to have to deal with teens gawking at her body and whatever scars they could see. 

“Perfect.” She hissed, walking towards the dropship in hopes of finding an unclaimed pack with a spare shirt in it. “Now I get to do the walk of shame from my own damn bed.” 

Noticing all the frolicking around her, as well as the height of the sun, Andrea came to the conclusion that she had slept later than she thought. She wasn’t sure what to feel about the scattered twelve and thirteen year olds running around. She opted instead to take in what the others were doing, a few were climbing trees, there was a wrestling ring of boys with some girls playing with their hair as they watched. Not that this surprised her in the slightest. They were all kids who had been locked up, meaning whatever productive work was going to be done won’t be until after the shock of being free wears off. She was surprised she was able to get as much done, though luck had a factor in that. 

Then again, maybe it came with age, practice, or even both. She was three years the eldest delinquents’ senior and experienced a vastly different imprisonment than most of them. While they had all planned for this day at the mess or with their friends, she’d given up on hope. She had also been one to never waste idle time back on the Ark. If she wasn’t practicing what she learned, or doing different tasks set forth by her parents and teachers, she was causing mischief about her station. But that was all behind her now, and current events dictated that she focused on finding some proper apparel before she continued with her day. 

She made her way to the drop ship, looking around at the supply pile in the abandoned area. She’d spent a few minutes shuffling around when she heard sounds above her. Uneasy, given that it had previously been silent, she turned toward the ladder, her knife poised. She still didn’t know that much about the various sentences that they had down here, and she had learned over the years that you can hardly trust anyone. After all, she had been burned by many guards before Daniel had come into her life and several after. 

Her back stretched uncomfortably with the tension, her encounter with a branch forgotten in all the heavy lifting she’d done to make shelter. Once it was clear, she’d have to have someone check it out, though something told her that if it was really that bad that someone would have said something on her way here. Finally, a figure came down the ladder, making her relax and pocket her weapon. It had only been Bellamy, a very satisfied smirk on his face along with a very bare chest. When he turned to face her, his smile dropped to a look of surprise and confusion. 

“Looks like we both lost clothing last night.” She smiled in greeting, raising an eyebrow. “Though I’m pretty sure you lost yours in a very different manner than I.” 

“What, you didn’t go and have some fun with your twirler friend?” He dipped a cup into one of the water buckets, looking at her knowingly as he drank. “You seemed to get along well enough.” 

“Please, the kid was barely sixteen, his voice cracked when he was laughing for christ’s sake.” She laughed, shaking her head at the thought. “No...I think I’ll just have to abstain from that form of recreation for a few years, or so.” 

“You are stronger willed than I,” He mused, taking a sip from the cup before looking at her, his eyes easily focusing her face. “What are you doing here, anyway? I didn’t think anyone stayed down here.” 

“Nor would they want to...” she started, going through the few remaining backs distractedly. “I’m attempting to replace my top.” 

“How did someone manage to steal your clothing from off your back?” 

She sighed, kicking at the useless bags, “Well, apparently my body decided it was too warm and cast it aside, and by aside I mean straight into my water collection bucket, and so it’s a little drenched at the moment.” 

“Aww, is someone afraid of a little water? Didn’t seem to be a problem last night.” He shook his head, “For someone of your reputation I figured you’d be less...picky.” 

“Ha ha.” She laughed, moving towards the door, “Don’t you have a conquest to kick out of your bed?” 

Whatever Bellamy had to say in response went unheard as she stepped onto the soft dirt, the sun beating down on her face. She was getting a few looks from the less subtle teenagers, seeing that she was just in a sports bra, but she ignored them. She worked hard to have the body she had, and if she was going to maintain it, she would need to keep working hard. Granted, that would mean she’d have to figure out a balanced diet out of whatever Fort Weather as well as Earth provided by way of food, but she’d still work on it. Her life has been nothing but a constant training ground and the results of that deserved to be admired...just not all the time.

She ran a hand through her hair, pulling away some of the snarls she’d missed in her finger combing last night with a sigh. Stepping up to one of Bellamy’s guys, Atom, she leaned an arm on his shoulder. Since he was slightly shorter than Bellamy she had to stand on her toes a little, but the gesture got what she was looking for and the lanky teen turned to look at her. It was really a shame that he was so young, she thought, otherwise she would’ve eaten him up the first chance she had. 

“Hey, Atom.” She grinned, patting her eyes lightly, “You wouldn’t have happened across any spare shirts around these parts...would you?” 

He shook his head, seemingly unperturbed by the half naked girl in front of him. Turning to look around he stopped when his gaze went to their right, “Actually…” 

She followed his gaze and noticed Wells walking over with a handful of clothes. “Whataya know! Ask and you shall receive, eh?”

“The better thing to ask is how you receive it though.” Atom muttered, shifting her arm off of him so that he could approach the boy who was walking away from the dropship instead of to it. “Hey, uh where’d you get the clothes?”

“And is any of it unclaimed?” Andrea asked, moving next to the two as they discussed. 

Wells looked at her like there was something wrong with her, making Andrea’s skin crawl. What was so bad about needing clothing? “I buried the two kids who died during the landing.” 

Well shit...way to look callus, I mean you are, but that’s besides the point Drea. Atom nodded holding his hand out, “Smart. You know, I’ll take it from here, there’s always a market for-” 

Wells snapped his arm away, “We share based on need, just like back home.” 

“Good because I need a shirt.” Andrea growled going to grab a shirt only for Bellamy to appear with his awoken conquest. “But something tells me you’re gonna get told off first.” 

“You still don't get it, do you, Chancellor?” There was a pause as he kissed the girl goodbye, Andrea noticing that she left her shirt behind. I’ll have to sneak up to find that...and then boil it. “This is home now. Your father's rules no longer apply.” 

He grabbed the two shirts, passing Andrea the smaller of the two resulting in a small scuffle between Wells and Atom. “Oh, no, no, Atom. Atom, hold up.” He gestured between himself and her, looking to Wells, “You want them back? Take them, from either of us.” 

Andrea held her shirt out in a challenge, watching the kid’s face. She didn’t even care about sides anymore, she just wanted to see him go for it. To let loose and just do as he pleased. Wells tossed the pile on the ground, about to do just that when they all witnessed a mad dash for the clothing, and fighting over the boots. She would have been amused if she wasn’t disappointed that Atom joined in on it. So much promise in that boy...I’ll have to teach him a thing or two. 

“Is this what you want?” Wells looked at them, incredulous. “Chaos?”

“I just wanted a shirt so I didn’t have hormonal teenagers gawking at me all day.” Andrea shrugged, “Didn’t want to get a bad sunburn either.” 

They both started to pull their shirts over their heads, Bellamy giving a small smile to the kid, “Besides, what’s wrong with a little chaos?” 

“If you ask me, too much order is stifling.” Andrea winced, pulling her hair out from the shirt, “Sometimes a little disorder is required for one to enjoy life.” 

Wells was about to say something, but they all turned their attention behind him as a scream broke out at one of the fires. They all went to it, various reactions sounding at what they saw. Murphy had been hard at work this morning, a pile of removed wristbands on the floor at a smaller fire. Though that’s not what held Andrea’s gaze. He had a girl by the arms and bent over the fire, the flames licking right in front of her face as he looked up with a self satisfied smirk. 

“Bellamy. Check it out.” The group made their way down towards him, looking on with morbid curiosity, “We want the Ark to think that the ground is killing us, right? Figure it'll look better if we suffer a little bit first.”

Bellamy and Andrea said nothing, the girl trying to find a way to reprimand him without making a public spectacle. This wasn’t what she wanted, not really. She just wanted the Ark to leave well enough alone and die on it’s own. Screw their doctors and their engineers, down here they could all learn what they knew from their parents and what they could teach themselves. Besides, no one was up there waiting for her, so why would she want a thousand people to remind her of that? She was heartless, but she wasn’t this kind of heartless. She was just a kid for fuck’s sake. Wells brought her thoughts to life, shoving Murphy through the girl to break them apart. 

“Let her go!” He yelled, turning to the leaders, “You can stop this.”

“Stop this?” Andrea watched as an almost unreadable expression came across Bellamy’s face. She sympathized with him, but it was too late now...the damage was done. “I'm just getting started.” 

Murphy jumped forward, with a flying punch to knock Wells back. Andrea stood, looking between the fight and Bellamy. He had a strange look on his face that she couldn’t read, but she took the opportunity to try. His hair was no longer gelled back-something she’d missed this morning- and it framed around his head in a wavy mop. He looked less...stern this way, and softer. Though maybe that was the freckles that she hadn’t noticed before, dotting along his nose and cheeks. All the badassery that eked out of his pores yesterday just didn’t seem to work with the image she was seeing today. 

Suddenly, he lunged into action, moving towards Andrea with an arm outreached as she was lurched to the floor. Murphy scrambled off of her, making a comment about getting out of the way, and moved back to the fight. Bellamy bent down, his hand poised to help her up. Embarrassed that she'd been caught off card, she scowled, pushing him away. There was a show of neck cracking and back twisting before she deigned to rise. Despite the growing desire to throttle Murphy, Drea merely watched as Wells knocked Murphy onto his back. Turning towards the two of them the Chancellor’s son gestured to his defeated opponent. 

“Don't you see?” He panted, his eyes pleading with them. “You can't control this!” 

Murphy rolled to his side, and stood up, a knife at his side and a sneer in his lips, “You’re dead.” 

Lunging for Wells, Bellamy finally lunged into action, getting between the two of them, his gaze on his underling. 

“Wait.” 

Andrea watched on with bated breath as he looked to Wells, considering his options. Unfortunately, the mob had taken over, chanting for the fight to continue. It was too late to fix this, she saw that, and she knows that Bellamy did too. Slowly taking out a Knife, he gestured towards Wells. 

“Fair Fight.” 

He tossed the knife to his feet, backing away as people cheered and murmured for it to continue. Murphy waited for him to pick it up, which surprised Andrea if she was being completely honest, a sickening smile on his beat up face. Once he did, Murphy toyed with him, fainting motions as he studied how Wells deflected or dodged. It was actually pretty smart, and while she was impressed with his skills, she doubted his patience. Which was fair, given that a few seconds later, he moved, slashing at Wells arm, resulting in a cry of pain. 

“This is for my father!” He growled, giving out two punches only for Wells to deflect and put in him in a choke hold, knife to his throat. 

“Drop it!” Wells grit out, Murphy struggling to break free. 

Andrea watched in shock at the turn of events, not noticing the return of their explorers until Buzzkill’s voice broke through. “Wells! Let him go!” 

Andrea stood, watching as the other girl came down the hill with Finn, looking shocked at her friend as he pushed Murphy down. Murphy jumped up, but Bellamy jumped forward, putting himself between the two. The kids struggled, but the leader didn’t care, speaking clearly. 

Andrea didn’t pay attention to the conversation, following Murphy’s movements as he thought about attacking Wells. She could see it in his eyes; Bellamy may have thought it was enough, but he didn’t. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed his forearm, pulling him away a few steps. He struggled against her, but saw the look on her face and stopped, and just pulled away when they stopped moving. 

“The hell do you want Serial Killer.” He snapped, looking onward. “I’m not finished.” 

“Yes you are, Murphy.” She muttered, her use of his name shocking him into attention. “Bellamy told you it was enough, and you need to trust that he isn’t doing it for his own health.” 

“Yeah, so what? That wannabe chancellor deserves to die.” 

“Hey!” She snapped now, getting sick of this game. “He is not his father. I get it, you hate Jaha for killing your dad, I do...but he has killed way more than just yours and taking it out on his son will not make you feel better. And if I noticed correctly, you got your revenge by making the chancellor think his son is dead. Until Bellamy says otherwise, that is all that is necessary right now, do you hear me?” 

He hesitated, but nodded, the two of them turning back towards the conversation at hand, Andrea still keeping an eye on him. The blonde was still speaking, her voice frantic. 

“The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us.” 

Finn scratched his head from his perch on a fallen tree, murmuring. “Yeah, the bad news is the Grounders will.” 

“Grounders?” Andrea shook her head, looking to Monty and realizing something, “Hey Monty-” 

“Where’s the kid with the goggles?” Wells interrupted with her own question.

“Jasper was hit. They took him.” Buzzkill looked down, and while she wanted to say something, unfortunately the other girl continued, noticing Wells’ wrist. “Where is your wristband?” 

Wells pulled his arm away, glaring at Bellamy and then Andrea, “Ask them.” 

Bellamy looked unfazed, not noticing the look on Octavia’s face next to him as Buzzkill advanced on him. “How many?”

Murphy spoke up, a smirk playing across his face. “Twenty-four and counting.” 

Buzzkill, who Andrea is realizing she really needed to learn the real name of, shook her head looking at him in shock. 

“You idiots.” She whispered, raising her voice as she continued,“Life support on the Ark is failing. That's why they brought us down here. They need to know the ground is survivable again, and we need their help against whoever is out there. If you take off your wristbands, you're not just killing them.” She paused looking around, “You're killing us!” 

Bellamy gave a quick glance at Andrea. She nodded, realizing that they needed to up their game, and if Bellamy was good at one thing, it was rallying a crowd. He shook his head a little, looking to the girl and then the others, moving so that he could address the group.

“We're stronger than you think.” He said. “Don't listen to her. She's one of the privileged. If they come down, she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same? We can take care of ourselves. That wristband on your arm? It makes you a prisoner. We are not prisoners anymore! They say they'll forgive your crimes. I say you're not criminals! You're fighters, survivors! The Grounders should worry about us!” 

The group cheered, and Andrea nodded, moving forward to pat Bellamy on the back. “Good speech, Babe...that was a close one.” 

“Yeah… a little too close.” He said, muttered as she started to walk away, “Hey, Convict!” She turned towards him, “Keep an eye on her.” 

She nodded, “Yeah… something tells me she’s gonna go after that kid...and I kinda told myself I would take those two nerds under my wing so...I’ll use that as an in. She may come to you though...that gun of yours might come in handy.” 

“How’d you even-” He started, stopping when she laughed. 

“You kinda made it obvious when you were walking around shirtless with it tucked into the waistband of your pants.” She explained, raising an eyebrow at him. 

He smirked, “Well why were you looking there to begin with?” 

“Please,” she snorted, walking away, “You wouldn’t be able to handle this.” 

She smiled to herself, doubting he knew if she heard his comment of, “You don’t know anything about what I can and can’t handle.” 

Andrea ran toward the dropship, climbing her tree to grab her pack, a blanket, and her jacket. Pausing, she decided to grab the toolbox as well. Walking into the vessel, she saw Monty at a light getting ready to fiddle with it. Taking advantage of his distraction, she snuck up behind him, the box behind her back. 

“You know when I told you guys to go ‘have your adventure’, I also said be careful, right?” She waited for him to turn around, a slightly shocked look on his face. She held out the box. “Here, I come bearing gifts, it’ll help you do what you need to do. Look...if I had known how dangerous it really was, I would have gone with...protected you guys. I didn’t mean for one of you to not come back.” 

“Yeah, well, you seem to be doing fine with your new friends Bellamy and Murphy.” He muttered, accepting the tools and crouching to look through it. “Why are you even here anyway?” 

“First off, never, never confuse me and Murphy as friends.” She grimaced, her expression softening as she crouched next to him. “And second...just because I’m on one side of the equation, doesn’t mean I don’t care about what happened to Jasper, it’s just a matter of perspective is all.” 

“I...I know.” Monty sighed, nodding slowly, “ I know, if you didn’t care you wouldn’t have stood up for him when Murphy tried to claim him. I’m sorry I’m just...I’m worried about him. We don’t really do the whole distance thing in case you haven’t noticed.” 

“Really, couldn’t tell...don’t worry, that’s why I’m here to help.” She grinned giving him a knowing look, “To keep you from doing something stupid trying to get him.” 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he said, smiling back. “So with you volunteering, that leaves our back up with….you.” 

“Well, we may want to get Bellamy.” He gave her a look, and she scoffed, “Don’t start with me, he’s got a gun on him that could be useful.” 

Monty went to say something, but they were interrupted by Buzzkill coming down the ladder, “It’s not your ankle, Wells, it’s you.” 

Wells followed her down, the tension in the room increasing. “You came back for reinforcements. I’m gonna help.” 

“Clarke, he’s right.” Monty said, finally shedding light on what Buzzkill’s name was for Andrea. I think I like Buzzkill better. “We need him. So far no one else save for Andrea has volunteered.” 

She waved slightly, earning a look from Wells. “What? Am I not allowed to care about anyone else?” 

“You’ve shown a resounding lack of it the past 24 hours.” He snapped, “Or did Murphy’s stunt this morning simply amuse you?” 

Andrea went to say something, stepping forward, but Monty pulled her back, “Stop it both of you! We need to go get Jasper.” 

Clarke winced looking at the boy, “ I'm sorry, Monty, but you're not going, either.” 

Monty advanced this time, and Andrea grabbed his arm so that he stopped right in front of the blonde, “Like hell I'm not. Jasper's my best friend.” 

“Besides, it’s not like you get to be all that picky, Princess.” Drea commented, raising an eyebrow in challenge. 

“You're too important.” Clarke argued looking at him sternly, “You were raised on Farm Station and recruited by engineering.” 

Monty kept her gaze with a “So?” expression, his hand shaking against Drea’s arm.

“So food and communication.” She tapped his temple with her finger, “What's up here, it's gonna save us all. You figure out how to talk to the Ark and I'll bring Jasper back.” 

He nodded, but Clarke had left, leaving Andrea to place a steadying hand on his shaking one. “Don’t worry, Bud. I’ll make sure to get him back safe. Maybe trip Clarke once or twice to for catharsis.” 

“While you don’t have to do the second part...I’m trusting you with this, Monkey.” He sighed, worry etched in his features. “Don’t let me down.” 

“You got it,” She said, Saluting him before following the blonde, who was looking at an emerging Finn. 

“Hey.” Clarke greeted, “You ready?”

“I'm not going anywhere, and neither should any of you.” Finn said, shaking his head at them, “That spear was thrown with pinpoint accuracy from 300 feet.”

While the others started to rehash the same argument, Drea took in Finn’s features. It took a lot to scare him, she should know it used to be her job, but whatever they encountered out there? It terrified him. Finn wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, or to showboat for the ladies if given the opportunity. If he was bowing out, these Grounders had to mean serious business. 

“Spacewalker? What a joke.” Clarke shook her head, looking at him as if she found out her hero was a fraud. “You think you're such an adventurer...You're really just a coward.” 

“It's not an adventure, Clarke,” he leaned towards her as she picked up her pack. “It's a suicide mission.” 

Andrea looked on with a frown, “Look, I’m not going to unknowingly call you a Coward, I haven’t been out there yet.” She placed her hands on her hips. “But if your mind is already made up, why are we all standing around talking about it? Let’s get a move on.” 

She pushed past him, ignoring whatever Wells was saying, and catching up to the leader of the expedition. When she did, Clarke looked at her warily. “Weren’t you the one that everybody’s been calling Bellamy’s second?” 

“Well...Murphy likes to think that’s his title, but yeah...sort of.” She held out a hand, “The name’s Andrea.” 

“Andrea…?”

“Wilson.” She added, watching the dots connect in Clarke’s mind.

“The same Andrea Wilson that-” 

“The one and only.” She sighed, dropping her hand. “You can call me Drea, if you want.” 

“Well...Drea...I don’t care what you did before we were dropped.” Clarke said, offering a small smile, “Thanks for volunteering.” 

Andrea shrugged, shaking her head, “It’s just us down here, at least as far as civilized folk go. We gotta stick together.” 

Clarke nodded, looking towards Bellamy, “Well, before we leave, we need more numbers. And better protection.” 

The three reached the leader in a few seconds, seeing him knelt in front of Octavia to clean up her leg. It was a nasty looking bite, and he was clearly not happy about it. Still, it was nice to see him worrying about something other than himself. While Drea hadn’t pushed him on the subject, she was taking note of his motivations. Guard suit to sneak on the drop ship, which he got on to protect his sister, not wanting anyone to follow them; Clearly he got on someone’s bad side. It was clearly for a noble cause, but it didn’t mean the action itself was such. 

“You could have been killed.” He worried, pulling away from her so she could readjust a fresh tourniquet around it. 

“She would have been if Jasper didn’t jump in to pull her out.” Clarke said, the three of them stopping. Octavia looked to them, a worried glint to her eyes. 

“You guys leaving?” She started to get up, doing her best to keep a strong face. “I’m coming too.” 

Bellamy pushed her gently back down, “No, no. No way. Not again.” 

“He’s right. Your leg’s just gonna slow us down.” Clarke said bluntly, not even sugar coating it before turning to the brother. “I’m here for you.” 

Bellamy looked at her curiously, his eyes moving to Drea who held up her fingers in a symbol. She knows about the gun; She mouthed. 

As he nodded, Wells looked between the two and back to the blonde, “Clarke, what are you doing? Isn’t one of them enough?” 

“Hey now…” She teased, “I’m one of the only ones to volunteer here.” 

Clarke ignored the situation around her, eyes intent on Bellamy, “I hear you have a gun.” 

He sighed, running a hand through his dark mop. There was a brief pause, making Drea wonder if he was going to deny it, or just say no to helping, but keeping his gaze on Clarke, he pulled his shirt up to reveal the weapon. 

Clarke smiled, “Good. Follow me.” 

She started to move, Bellamy speaking up. “And why would I do that?”

She smiled, looking to him like it was obvious, “ Because you want them to follow you, and right now, they're thinking only one of us is scared...I mean sure Drea over here is coming along, but that’s not quite the same, is it?” 

Drea covered her the snicker that threatened to slip out with a quick rubbing of her nose. It didn’t stop him from looking at her though, and she shifted her gaze over. If it was decided they were both coming, then there was someone they didn’t want to leave in the camp unsupervised. Bellamy tilted his head in understanding, before turning to the boy in question. Gee how convenient that he’s like a lost little puppy. “Murphy. Come with me. Atom?” The boy walked over as Bellamy put his coat on, “My sister doesn't leave this camp. Is that clear?”

He nodded, Octavia glaring at her brother, “I don’t need a babysitter.” 

Drea snorted, moving next to Murphy, not trusting him to be civil on this trek. “Remember what I told you earlier, Thunderdome, and I won’t have to beat you into next week.” 

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” He snorted, looking at Bellamy as the three followed the group. “Since when are we in the rescuing business, huh?”

“Oh come one, buddy, use that thing between your ears for once, will you?” The girl winced, pointing to the two that were ahead of them, “Not that you should need it when you realize the opportunity in front of us.” 

“Insult my intelligence one more time, Serial Killer…” He growled, grabbing her arm and stopping them where they were. “I dare you.” 

“I don’t need to.” She declared, swinging her arm and pushing at his chest with her palm. She smiled as he let out a puff of air and stumbled. “You just keep walking into it.” 

Bellamy turned around finally, glaring at the two of them. “Hey! Are you finished?” 

“At the moment,” Drea nodded, “But I make no promises for the rest of this trip.” 

Bellamy sighed, ignoring her comment, and outlining for Murphy. “The Ark thinks the prince is dead. Once they think the princess is, too, they'll never come down.” The three looked towards the two as they trailed along. “I'm getting that wristband, even if I have to cut off her hand to do it.” 

“Ooh...big words tough guy,” Andrea teased, a small twist in her gut forming at the thought. “Sounds like a grand time.” 

They trekked in silence for a while, and she did her best to ignore all the glares that were being sent her way via Murphy. So what if she mocked him for being dumb? It’s what he was, and he was digging his heels in to prove it to her. Or maybe it was a status thing, she knew what was happening before he did, making her the brains to his brawn. Most of the time the brawn was the first to be thrown under the bus, while the brains continued to be useful. Maybe that’s what he hated. She was getting recognized and he was just getting known for starting fights and being a sadistic little freak. She shrugged it off, nudging Bellamy. 

“Shouldn’t we do something while we’re not in grounder territory? Something that’ll undoubtedly get us into a bad situation later?” He held her gaze for a couple of seconds, that look from the fight on his face again. “Look, I know you don’t agree with what Murphy did to that girl earlier. It’s why I signaled to take him with us, but...with your little mantra, this was the kind of stuff that’s going to happen. We need to be smart about things.” 

Unfortunately, that was the wrong thing to say, because his conflicted expression quickly pinched into an irritated one. 

“Whatever you say, Convict.” He grit out, pushing ahead to try and catch up to the others, ‘Save your ‘I told you so’s for someone who gives a shit.” 

She would have made a comment on how she knew that he gave a shit because she did too, but didn’t get the chance. Bellamy was calling out to Clarke, his gun resting carelessly in his hand. 

“Hey, hold up! What’s the rush? You don’t survive a spear through the heart.” 

He was waving the gun hand now, making Wells walk up to him, “Put the gun away, Bellamy.”

While it was fairly obvious this was a show by both, typical posturing and preening to find the alpha male. Drea had to clench her jaw to stop herself from hissing that he safety was clearly on, and his finger was nowhere near the trigger. Instead, someone else intervened. 

True to Murphy fashion, he shoved the other kid away, “Well, why don't you do something about it, huh?”

Clarke looked to Bellamy, unhappy with the circumstances, “Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart, he'd have died instantly. It doesn't mean we have time to waste.”

“Aye, Aye, Captain Griffin.” Drea smirked, giving a mock salute in an effort to diffuse the situation. 

However, Bellamy decided to escalate against her de-escalation, grabbing at the other girl’s wrist, a charming smile on his face. “As soon as you take this wristband off, we can go.” 

Clarke pulled herself free, glaring at him, “The only way the Ark is gonna think I'm dead is if I'm dead. Got it?” 

“Ooohhhoooho!” Drea laughed, Bellamy smirking with her. 

“Brave Princess,” He said, looking slightly impressed with her bravado. 

Suddenly, Finn came up from behind them, shouldering his pack as he looked at Bellamy. She should have known as soon as Clarke grabbed them he would be back. After all, Finn was a sucker for a damsel in distress, strong enough to handle herself or not. He pushed himself between the two, pulling Clarke along with him, his eyes darkening and territorial. 

“Hey, why don't you find your own nickname? You call this a rescue party? Got to split up, cover more ground.” 

“Welcome back, Spacewalker, that didn’t take long.” Drea mused, moving with the others. “But did we have to institute the Buddy System like children?” 

There were eyerolls and groans sent in her direction, the group looking about as unlikely a gang as some old Earth film. Well this was sure to be interesting.


End file.
